On screens of central displays having touch sensors installed in automobiles (hereinafter referred to as “vehicles”), maps for navigation systems or television screens are shown along with operation GUIs including menus and control buttons. However, when users including drivers do not perform operations on the operation screens, the operation GUIs showing necessary information are hidden. In other words, the operation GUIs need not be shown in such a case.
In this regard, a technique has been proposed that a proximity sensor for detecting that an object is in the proximity of the display is disposed in the periphery of a display so that an operation GUI such as a menu is shown on the screen only when a hand of a driver is in the proximity of the display.
However, when the detection sensitivity of the proximity sensor is increased or the sensor is disposed between the driver's seat and the display for the purpose of quickly detecting the movement of the driver for operation that is performed in the proximity of the display, the proximity sensor may erroneously detect a normal movement of the driver for driving a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as “driving operation”). There is a problem that such a false detection by the proximity sensor causes an operation feedback (for example, a menu is displayed) which is not intended by the driver.
In order to solve such a problem, a technique has been disclosed that estimates whether the movement of the driver is for a driving operation or for an input operation on the screen based on traveling information of the vehicle obtained from a navigation system, and controls an operation of the proximity sensor according to the result of the estimation (refer to Patent Literature (PTL) 1).